Andrew Lincoln

Not even a year out of drama school in 1995, Andrew Lincoln was cock-a-hoop to be offered a role in a new twentysomething BBC2 drama series. But even in his wildest fantasies he couldn't have guessed just how successful that series would be. Suffice to say, it was called This Life.

As Egg, Lincoln was a decent, believable bloke who dreamed of Man Utd while frying chips in a cafe. As an actor in this huge cult success, he is now an instantly recognisable face who is much sought after by casting directors from every medium.

Since This Life ended its two series-run in 1998, Lincoln has dashed between film set, stage and television camera, keeping his profile high and his career on the boil. Still only 27, he starred opposite Tara Fitzgerald in the BBC's The Woman In White, defused explosive devices with Mark Strong in ITV's Bomber, and dabbled with drug culture in the movie Human Traffic. He is about to play the lead in Teachers, a C4 drama.

Determined not to be a mere 'celebrity', Lincoln has also drawn critical acclaim on the stage, first as a gay Scouser dying of Aids in Jonathan Harvey's Hushabye Mountain, and all this summer as a doctor in Joe Penhall's Blue/Orange at the National. This latter play dealt with schizophrenia, racism and decline in the NHS and Lincoln won rave reviews for his performance as the anxious junior who disagrees with his boss about the diagnosis of a patient.

The son of a civil engineer and a nurse, Lincoln was born in Hull but moved to Bath at the age of 10. There was nothing theatrical about his upbringing but he claims two events as the catalysts for his acting life. The first was being cast as a leper in a school production of Jesus Christ, Superstar; the second was seeing Phil Daniels in the RSC's production of A Clockwork Orange. Abandoning the vague notion of becoming a vet, he focused on drama and won a place at RADA when he was 18.

His progression to a nationally known face has been smooth and television viewers won't be surprised to see him in a new two-part thriller this week. In A Likeness In Stone, Lincoln plays Richard Kirschmann, a man haunted by events that happened a decade previously. We see events unfolding at a party from 10 years ago when a woman dis appears, and watch the reopening of the case when a body is found. The effect this has on Lincoln's character and his two best friends from the time are the meat of the drama.

His character in the drama is required to keep a secret forever, not a feat that Lincoln can ever imagine achieving. 'I'm terrible, I can't keep secrets at all. I'd blab straight away.'

Five things you should
know about Andrew Lincoln

1 His real name is Andrew Clutterbuck. Can't imagine
why he changed it.

2 Like Egg, his character in This Life, he is an avid
supporter of Manchester United.

3 He played Sixties gangster Maxi King in the film
Gangster No 1. He described the role thus: 'It's great.
I've got this really dodgy 'tache and I go round stabbing
people.'

4 He likes cooking, particularly curries, and is
inordinately proud of his Smeg oven.